Toshiba Gigabeat MEG-F20K 20 GB Digital Audio Player Black

by Toshiba

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 3.4 x 9.1 x 9.1 inches ; 5.6 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0007U0IGE
• Item model number: MEGF20K
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Images and music combine in this easy-to-use portable digital audio player. Toshiba's snazzy, black Gigabeat MEG-F20K packs a 1.8-inch Toshiba hard drive capable of holding 20 GB of digital media: MP3 and WMA compressed audio and even uncompressed, full-resolution WAV files. That's about 5,000 songs (more than 300 complete albums) at 128 kbps MP3, 10,000 songs at 64 kbps WMA, and a still-impressive 550 or so songs (or 38 hours) of CD-resolution WAV files.

A major feature of the player is its bright, crystal-clear, 2.2-inch LCD with 240 x 320 resolution and the ability to render over 65,000 colors. It's there so you can experience the visual as well as the aural component of your entertainment. The Gigabeat lets you download and view album covers, search for your favorite tracks by scrolling through those album covers, or even set a favorite album cover as your background image. You can download any digital still picture from your PC and create custom slideshows, too--and set them to music.

Gigabeat may be versatile, but it's also easy to operate. Its PlusTouch sensor control lets you scroll through its intuitive menus using only a soft touch or pass of your fingertip.

The PC-only Gigabeat is "Plays for Sure"-certified by Microsoft, which means that it will operate with any "Plays for Sure" download site or management software when connected to your PC. Gigabeat is automatically recognized by Windows Media Player 10, so there's no need to install new drivers of any kind. Toshiba has also partnered with Napster to provide Napster's "Napster To Go" software, giving you the option of using Napster To Go, Windows Media Player, and/or the supplied Gigabeat Room management software (Gigabeat Room is required for transfer of photo images).

So what about your CD collection? After all, you'll likely be able to stash the entire thing in here, one way or another. Thanks to a unique feature called CD RipRec, all you have to do is place a CD in your PC and press the CD RipRec button while the Gigabeat is docked in its cradle. CD RipRec will launch the software and transfer compressed audio to your Gigabeat quickly and with no further effort on your part. Using a USB 2.0 connection (cable supplied), CD RipRec can transfer the contents of an entire CD to the Gigabeat in as little as 5 minutes.

If Gigabeat's battery life (up to 16 hours) isn't enough to satisfy your entertainment needs, fret not. Rather than carrying your AC adapter everywhere, simply connect the Gigabeat to any PC with a USB cable and the battery will charge itself again.

Other features include a choice of 10- or 60-second intro scan to help you find a desired song, multilingual support (Japanese, English, French, Chinese, Spanish, and German), and 28 user selectable equalizer settings, and SRS WOW, which simulates surround sound from any two speakers (including headphones).

What's in the Box
Digital music player, an AC power adapter, a power-supply, a docking cradle, a USB cable, headphones, a software CD-ROM (Gigabeat Room management software, CD RipRec, Napster To Go), a user's manual, and warranty information.

Product Description

Listen to your tunes anytime, anywhere with the slick Gigabeat MP3 Player. The PlusTouch sensor control lets you scroll through all of the easy-to-understand menu systems with a touch of your finger. Gigabeat is Microsoft's Windows "Plays for Sure" certified and will operate with any "Plays for Sure" download site or management software simply by connecting it to your PC. It is automatically recognized by Windows Media Player 10, so there's no need to install drivers. The Gigabeat even gives you the option of using Napster To Go, Windows Media Player or Gigabeat Room Management Software*.

Features:

• 2.2" diagonal QVGA LCD color screen with 320 x 240 resolution lets you create slideshows and view downloaded album covers and digital still images
• Photo viewer with slideshow capability
• "PlusTouch" sensitive control
• 20 GB 1.8" hard drive for up to 10,000 songs
• Audio formats supported: MP3, WMA and WAV
• 16-hour lithium ion battery**
• Gigabeat room management and Napster To Go software included
• USB cradle allows one button file transfer and ripping of entire CD with RipRec
• 28 user selectable equalizer settings including SRS' WOW
• In the box: One Toshiba Gigabeat Audio Player, AC adapter, power supply, cradle, USB cable, headphones and software CD-ROM
• One-year limited warranty

*Gigabeat Room Management software is required for transfer of photo images; **16 hours battery life is approximate and varies depending on individual usage

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great player, can easily be made perfect, July 26, 2005

By 

O. Newton - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Toshiba Gigabeat MEG-F20K 20 GB Digital Audio Player Black (Electronics)

PROS: Great screen, lots of included accessories, easy to use, low price, and stylish
CONS: Bad software (will hopefully be fixed in future)

I've had this player for a few weeks now, it is my fourth hard drive based mp3 player (previous: iRiver H120, Dell 20GB Gen 1, Creative Zen NX) and I can easily say that it is the best one. I looked at the iPod photo but found its lack of accessories and it being very common (I don't want something the same as everyone else, I want my mp3 player to stand out) deal killers. So I decided on the Gigabeat.

The player uses a plus-touch system to navigate, mainly this functions as if it were 5 buttons, 4 at the corners and one in the middle with a handy grid at the bottom showing you what each point will do at that certain menu position etc. This makes it much easier to use at first, without the grid you would find yourself having to read the manual for some help. However, there are times when you can use more than just the button functions. For example when you are playing a song, sliding your finger from right to left will get you to the part of your library that you are currently listening to making it easy to select another song from the same album or selecting a different album from the same artist. Also, at any point, if you slide you finger from left to right you return to the now playing screen, bottom to top returns you to the main menu. These added functions of the plus touch sensor make the player very easy to use once you know them.

The one feature I am most surprised about of this player is the photo viewer. I bought this player just wanting the nice and easy to read display, I had no intention to try the photo viewing features out. I was pleasantly surprised when I did try them as the quality of the display with photos is fantastic. The photos are very sharp and looking through them is easy as even the thumbnails are very easy to see. Also, the speed at which the player will scroll through the photos is very fast making looking through vast collections of photos a breeze.

The screen is what makes this player so great, the now playing screen can be customized in many different ways from showing vibrating speakers to simply showing album art, of course this is in addition to track and album info. To really appreciate the screen though you have to see it for yourself.

Navigating the library is very simple, organized by artist>album, album, genre, or playlists. Playlist can be created on the fly by using the bookmark feature and then when connected to the computer you can convert these bookmarks to playlists.

This gets me onto the software, Gigabeat Room. The software is a pain to use, it consistently hangs when doing anything more than scrolling through songs but once you have everything sorted on it all you have to do in future is connect the player to the included dock and press the syncronize button, this will transfer any new songs or photos from your designated folders. Getting album art organized is also difficult as it will take any image from the folder, using a separate album art program I found on the internet I got all of this sorted out.

The value for money with this player is good. It is cheaper than the iPod with all of the same functions except for a bigger screen and lots more included accessories. This player comes with a dock, AC adapter (yes a way of charging your player without a computer which iPod owners now have to pay extra for), USB 2.0 cable and some earbud headphones.

Overall this player is great, it is very stylish, the buttons on the side light up a nice blue, and of course, the large bright screen sets the player apart from others. Only a few problems with the software (you can use WMP10 but Toshiba have limited it to USB 1.1 speeds) which can be fixed if Toshiba work on it a little stop the player from being perfect. Great battery life, fantastic screen, very good sound quality and lots of accessories, what more could you want from a player??

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Takes time to learn, but great to use, April 7, 2006

By 

J. Hurt - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Toshiba Gigabeat MEG-F20K 20 GB Digital Audio Player Black (Electronics)

Overall I'm extremely happy with buying the toshiba gigabeat. The toshiba gigabeat takes a while to learn how to use, but the flexibility of the device is great and allows a high level of customization.

The player has an amazing amount of flexibility and settings, being able to chooose different screen settings (horizontal/vertical), different wallpaper settings, power up settings/battery settings, play settings, goes on and on. I really enjoy the amount of customization that can go into setting up the device, and being able to show photos is handy as well. I also found the button and menu system easy to use... after learning and messing around with how the system works.

Battery life is fine... once I learned how to set the player to automatically turn off the screen after 40 seconds of non use.

The main problem is simply learning the ins and outs of the device. Once you spend some time with the software guide book and device instruction book, I find the device's functionality to be great (for both transferring music and other files). I don't consider the problem a reason to lower the rating however, because some time spent with the device has provided enough familiarity with the device that using the device has become a simple process.

Many of the device commands are also intuitive and easy to remember after learning how the commands are set up for the device.

Being compatible with the Napster music subscription service helps a lot as well, and it may sound silly but seeing a color screen is rather nifty.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good MP3 Player, March 3, 2006

By 

M. Mccall (Missoula, MT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Toshiba Gigabeat MEG-F20K 20 GB Digital Audio Player Black (Electronics)

Overall this is a pretty good mp3 player. It has nice quality sound, the delay between songs is very short, and the picture quality of the screen is great. The player, although small, is also built very though with a strong chassis.

Downsides, the headphones that come with the player are horrible and uncomfortable. The software is a little difficult to use at first, and it could use some features to be able to apply album covers to multiple songs. You also can only get USB 2 speeds with the Toshiba software, and not Windows Media Player. And for some reason, some of my albums that I put on the player with Windows Media Player don't show up in the Toshiba software.

Also when I first received my player, it would freeze up often. The customer service was great, after trying a format they told me to send it in for repair. I got my player back 3 days after their tech support received it. Since then the player no longer freezes.

This is a great player for the money, but I would recommend buying a pair of headphones to go with it.